A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews on the previous chapter. Gotta love big brother Jess and kid sister Lilly, am I right? ;) Don't worry, of course Jess will see Rory again soon at that romance will develop, in fact...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 3

"Hey, you doin' okay, man?" asked Jimmy as he and Jess headed towards Dante's Inferno together.

"Sure, fine," Jess replied, nodding his head. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know, you seem quiet the last few days, or quieter than usual," his father noted.

Jess was not exactly a loud person. Opinionated and stubborn, sure, but he stuck to the fewest possible words when he talked and was much more one of life's listeners than a conversationalist. Jimmy had no problem with that, he knew how smart Jess was, from his writing if nothing else, but just lately he was extra quiet, like something was on his mind. That did bother him.

"It's nothing, really," Jess insisted, looking out to the ocean as they walked along together. "I just... I met this girl."

"A girl, huh?" said Jimmy with a smile he was unable to hold in. "What kind of girl?"

"The female kind," Jess told him with a smirk, evading when his father faked knocking him upside his head. "See, this is why I wasn't saying anything, because I knew you'd get that dumb grin on your face, and then you'd tell Sasha, and before we know it, I'm being married off to some girl that you don't even know."

"Hey, it would not be like that," Jimmy insisted, then off Jess' unconvinced look, he continued. "Okay, so maybe it might be a little bit like that, but I can be cool."

"Sure you can." Jess rolled his eyes. "Look, it's not even a big deal. I met her once, at the book store. All I know is her name is Rory, she lives in Connecticut, she's got a thing for literature, and she's here on vacation, or she was anyway. Chances are she's long gone by now."

He knew he sounded bitter when he said that last part and Jess hated that. Aloof and detached was better. That attitude had served him well his whole life, at least until he and Jimmy landed in Venice and started to build a life with Sasha and Lilly. Up to that point, they had always been on the move. Making friends only to up and leave them six months, a year, maybe two down the line, it was just easier not to get too involved. Unfortunately, Jess felt attached to Rory after just one brief meeting, and he couldn't shake the feeling that he was supposed to know her better.

"Huh," said Jimmy, looking thoughtful. "One conversation in a bookstore and you're this hooked? Sounds like love to me."

"C'mon!" Jess scoffed. "This is real life, not some romance novel."

"Hey, you know how it was with me and Sash," he reminded his son. "Man, I thought I could never love a woman the way I loved the beach and the ocean, but that day when we ran into Sasha on the boardwalk," he said, shaking his head, "that was something else."

Jess knew the story well, not least because he had been there at the first meeting of his father and Sasha. The way Jimmy described it, meeting his 'true love' was like being hit by lightning and not even caring if you burned. Jess didn't feel like that exactly when he met Rory or when he thought of her. It was more like being haunted, except less scary and more frustrating, because he knew yearning for a girl like her was completely redundant.

"Like I said, she's probably long gone by now."

"Maybe, maybe not," Jimmy considered. "You try going back to the book store, see if she's around?"

Jess looked away, knowing he was giving the answer without saying a word.

"How many times?" Jimmy prodded.

"Seven or eight," Jess admitted. "Hey, it's not like I don't like the place just fine even when she's not there," he said, defending himself quickly.

"Hey, I never said a word," Jimmy told him, hands held up in mock surrender.

Jess laughed, he couldn't help it. As fathers went, Jimmy was pretty cool. He didn't judge, he wasn't big on discipline, it was kind of like having a big brother rather than a dad much of the time. They shared a love of good books, music, and movies, and neither was expecting life to hand them the world. Two of a kind in so many ways, they were equally as stubborn as each other and butted heads at times over the dumbest things. Sasha was a good equaliser when those moments came, though she wasn't needed much in that capacity, truth be told.

Jess was at least grateful that talk of Rory was suspended as he and Jimmy arrived at the hot dog stand and got to work. The boardwalk got packed with people pretty fast on any given day in the Summer and it was all hands to the pumps, serving all the hungry customers. Jess tried to remember to smile and make eye contact as he handed over food and then change, but when he was run off his feet it was easy to forget all that customer service crap. When he heard the last customer mutter something about his rudeness, he rolled his eyes, but then made a point of looking right at the next person in line in what was supposed to be a friendly way. Jess almost forgot where he was when he realised just who he was looking at.

"Rory, hi," he greeted her after a moment's stunned silence.

"Oh, hey, Jess," she replied, blushing furiously, he noticed.

He wondered what had her so flustered for a moment before he realised she wasn't alone. The supposed sister he had seen with her before was hovering nearby and looking amused.

"This is Jess?" she asked. "Wow. The famous Jess."

"I'm famous?" he checked. "Huh."

"Well, not famous exactly, but I've heard so much about you I feel like you should be."

Rory looked mortified by those words, a pained expression on her face as she turned away.

"Mom!" she complained, giving Jess a second shock.

He really had thought these two must be sisters, and though it had crossed his mind that the older woman might be a really young mom, it seemed like a stretch. Apparently, it wasn't impossible.

"So, Jess," she said then. "I'm Rory's mom, Lorelai, and we would like two of your biggest hotdogs with everything on them, plus a couple of extra-large Cokes, please."

"Coming right up," said Jess on automatic, his eyes still on Rory even as he spoke to Lorelai.

Making himself concentrate on the task at hand, he made up the hot dogs and called for someone to pour the drinks at the same time. It was hard not to keep sneaking looks at Rory and trying to hear the muttered conversation between her and her mom. Jess really had thought he would never see her again and yet here she was. Again he wondered how much longer she would be around, hating the not knowing, hating more that she could be leaving as soon as tonight or tomorrow.

"Here you go," he said at last, handing them their food and drinks.

"Thanks," said Lorelai, reaching for her wallet. "How much?"

"On the house," said Jess with a smile aimed mostly at Rory.

"Wow!" Lorelai reacted with surprise and a huge grin of her own. "That's really sweet of you, Jess. Isn't that nice, Rory?" she urged her, shoving her daughter with her elbow.

"Thanks," she told Jess, grabbing her mom's arm and practically dragging her away.

He watched them walk off until they got lost in the crowd and other people in the line started demanding service. A quick check of the clock told Jess his shift wasn't over for another hour or more. Too bad they hadn't come by a little later, he would have loved to be able to ask Rory to hang out. Maybe she would have said no, with her mom there and everything, but Jess would've liked the chance to ask. He really had no luck with this girl.

Since he had nowhere to be, after the next hour passed, Jess stayed a couple more. Jimmy said he could leave, no problem, but there didn't seem to be much point. There was nothing Jess had planned to do, except chase after a girl who seemed embarrassed as anything to be seen talking to him. He hoped it was just because her mom was there, but it kind of hurt that she was so quick to get away.

"Don't you still have that essay to write for school?" asked Jimmy as he walked by Jess again.

"It'll wait," he told his father, making a big deal of cleaning down all the surfaces. "Besides, I thought you were always grateful for an extra pair of hands?"

"You know I am," Jimmy agreed. "It's just... Well, I think maybe you're about to get a better offer," he said, suddenly grinning as he nodded towards the counter.

Jess didn't know that Jimmy had been paying attention when Rory and Lorelai came by before, but clearly he was wrong. Parents saw and knew everything, so Sasha said. Apparently, she wasn't entirely wrong.

Washing his hands and drying them fast, Jess walked up to the counter to see Rory waiting on the other side, by herself this time around.

"Hey," he greeted her.

"Hi," she replied, shifting in place. "I, er... I'm sorry about earlier. If my mom embarrassed you-"

"It's fine," he assured her. "I think her plan was actually to embarrass you."

"She does that sometimes. Parental right, I guess."

"Apparently." Jess nodded, glancing over his shoulder to see Jimmy smiling too wide, giving him the thumbs up sign and practically pushing him forward to ask Rory out or similar. "That's Jimmy, my dad. This is his place," Jess explained.

"Oh, owner's son. Fancy," she said with a smile. "So, I was just... Um, I was wondering if you were done working, because I was going back to the book store, and I thought if you were going there, maybe you'd want to go together. Unless you weren't going there at all. It's just you said you're there a lot-"

"I'm going," he cut in fast. "I'll go, with you," he corrected, in case that wasn't clear.

Rory smiled some more and nodded her head.

"Great."

Jess heartily agreed with that sentiment as he took off his apron and rushed out of the hut to meet her on the boardwalk. On the way, he told Jimmy he'd be home before curfew, knowing that would be good enough, and trying not to feel weird about the high five his father gave him. This was strange and Jess wasn't even sure why. He went out with girls before, it was no big deal, or rather it shouldn't be. Somehow, Rory was different to any other girl he ever met, he just couldn't quite figure out why.

"Let's go," he said, arriving at Rory's side.

They headed towards the bookstore in silence at first, weaving in and out of benches, stalls, and a lot of other people still milling around the boardwalk. Eventually, Jess decided he just had to ask the one question that had been on his mind since he met her.

"So, how's the vacation going?" he asked, trying to be casual. "You here much longer?"

"Two more weeks," she confirmed. "I know three weeks seems like a really long time to be on vacation, but it's such a long way to come and we didn't want to miss anything. Besides, we came into a little money recently so it kind of made sense, and you did not ask for all this information, I'm sorry," she apologised fast, looking away with a pinkness coming to her cheeks again.

She was adorable. It was impossible for Jess not to think so. Not that she wasn't also beautiful and intelligent and interesting, but yeah, the rambling thing and blushing at the drop of a hat, that was adorable.

"It's cool," he promised her. "I have a kid sister that talks almost as fast as you so I can keep up."

"Sometimes I think it would be cool to have a sister, or a brother, maybe, but it's just me, so far," she said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Well, technically, Lil's not my sister. Since Jimmy and Sasha never have gotten as far as making it official, she's not even really my step-sister yet, but she may as well be."

"That's nice," said Rory, giving him a winning smile.

Jess thought even the sun couldn't measure up to her face when it lit up like that. She had the most amazing eyes and the greatest smile. Maybe he was falling in love like a dumb romance novel, much like Jimmy had suggested earlier. Jess suspected that meant he had also gone crazy, but he couldn't be sure yet.

Arriving at the book store, he held the door for Rory like a gentleman then followed her inside. Neither of them were there with a specific title or even genre in mind, so they started on the sale rack and then moved in and out of the shelves, seeing what they could find that was of interest.

On the way, both Rory and Jess pulled out books they knew as well as those they found interesting but had yet to read. They shared opinions, agreeing sometimes, bickering at others and finding the disagreements were actually more fun than when they agreed. Whilst Jess extolled the virtues of the great Ernest Hemingway which Rory just couldn't understand, she gave The Fountainhead all possible praise for its forty page monologues, watching Jess make faces as he dismissed Ayn Rand as a political nut. They quoted Ginsberg's Howl and discussed the highlights of Dickens' Oliver Twist. Hours passed without them hardly noticing, and it came as quite a surprise when an assistant passed by and told them it was only ten more minutes until they closed for the night.

"Oh my God!" Rory gasped, checking her watch. "Mom and Luke are going to be waiting on me," she said, scrambling to her feet.

"I'm sorry" Jess apologised like a reflex. "I honestly didn't know how late it was."

"It's not your fault." Rory shook her head. "I blame the books. They're very distracting."

"They're not the only thing here that is," said Jess, unsure why he hadn't kept that inside of his head.

He realised it was actually worth saying it out loud to see her go so bashful one more time. Rory was so passionate, intelligent, and downright forceful when she was giving her opinion on books and authors, but give her a compliment in even the smallest of ways and she looked ready to retreat just as quickly as possible. He loved that about her. Jess realised with a jolt that he loved so very much about her already. That was kind of terrifying actually, but at the same time, he wanted more.

"I'll walk you to your hotel," he said, hurrying to pick up the books they had spread on the floor and shoving them back on the shelves, as close to the right places as he could.

They didn't seem to have found anything they actually wanted to buy, they had been so distracted by each other and their debates, but that was okay.

"I can go by myself, if you need to get home," said Rory as they hurried towards the door. "I don't want you to get into trouble."

"Hey," Jess said, catching her by the shoulder when she looked ready to bolt. "I'd get in worse trouble with my dad for letting a girl walk home alone in the dark than for being late for curfew."

Rory nodded her understanding and acceptance it seemed, then suddenly shivered. Once the sun went down, it got a little chilly out on the boardwalk and it didn't seem that she had brought anything extra to wear when that happened. Jess supposed she had expected to be back long before it got this late.

"Here," he said, putting his jacket around her shoulders.

"Thank you, Jess" she said, smiling in the light of the lamps along the boardwalks edge. "And not just for the jacket. This was fun."

"It really was," he agreed, meeting her gaze.

For a moment he just couldn't look away, even though her blue eyes seemed to be cutting through him somehow. It was like looking into the sun, knowing you were going to lose your retinas if you didn't stop soon and yet not caring if you went blind, because somehow it was worth it.

Only when someone else came out of the bookstore, bumping into Jess and throwing him closer to Rory did the moment break, and then only momentarily. He cussed at the guy who bumped him but the second he turned back he found Rory so very temptingly close. His hands were on her arms where he tried not to knock her flying, and she wasn't exactly trying to get away.

"I, er... We should get you back to your hotel."

Rory nodded dumbly in response and Jess wondered if he imagined the disappointment in her eyes when he let go of her and they set off walking. Maybe he should've kissed her. It wasn't like the thought hadn't occurred to him, or as if he never kissed a girl before. It was just that Rory was so different, so special in a way he couldn't possibly describe. He barely knew her, though after just a few hours spent together today he felt as if he had known her for years, maybe forever.

They didn't say much on the walk back, and then suddenly she stopped, telling him this was the place she was staying. Facing each other on the sidewalk, it was time to say goodbye, at least for now.

"So, er, are you working again tomorrow?" she asked him, handing his jacket over.

"No, not tomorrow" he told her. "I actually promised Lilly I'd spend some time with her. She wants to go to Pacific Park again! Sasha has too much going on, so I volunteered... but you could come, if you want."

Jess wanted to smack himself in the head as soon as he said it. As if Rory would want to hang out at a theme park with him and his kid sister. It was such a stupid suggestion.

"I'd love to," she said suddenly, surprising the heck out of Jess. "I mean, if you're sure your sister wouldn't mind."

"Are you kidding? The more people she can drag into her plans and talk at for hours, the happier the kid gets." Jess rolled his eyes. "Er, we can come by to get you in the morning. Around ten?"

"Sounds great." Rory smiled, glancing up at the hotel.

She had to go and they both knew it. He ought to be running for home too, and yet here they stood, waiting, wondering.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow," said Jess.

"Ten o'clock," Rory confirmed nodding her head.

Still neither of them moved at all, and then suddenly they were both in motion, but towards each other rather than apart. Their arms wrapped around each other and then their lips met, all at once, electricity seeming to spark in every place their bodies touched. For maybe a minute it was like literal fireworks were going off between them and then suddenly it was over. Jess saw Rory running up the steps into the hotel, and fought in vain to get his bearings.

"Did that just happen?" he asked himself when she was gone, and then he smiled, because he knew it definitely had.

To Be Continued...